Surface condenser



Jan. 28, 1939. P. A. BANCEL 1,745,142

SURFACE CONDENSER Filed Sept. 29, 1928 III .1.

Patented Jan. 28, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PAUL A. BANCEL, or MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, Assienon r'o INGE soLL-Rnun com- PANY, or JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION 01? NEW JERSEY SURFACE CONDENSER Application filed September 29, 1 928.

inlet portions than at their outlet portions because in passing through the tubes, the cooling water is warmed from the heat absorbed, and in condensing the steam the Water temperature rises progressively along 15 the length of the tubes in the direction of are Water flow. The effect of this temperature condition is to decrease the capacity of the Water tubes to condense steam in the sections of the condenser which are relatively remote from the water inlet.

It is the obj ect of the present invention to arrange the tubes Within a condenser so that the steam will naturally apportion itself along the length of the condenser so as to produce substantially the same depth of penetration throughout, or in other words, to utilize the entire available cooling surface of the condenser in the most efficient and practical manner. A still further object of the invention is to produce a condenser which is extremely simple in its construction and which depends solely upon the arrangement and location of the various tubes for effecting equal depth of penetration of steam.

It has been proposed heretofore to direct steam in larger quantities toward the cooler end of the condenser by an arrangement in which the tubes converge toward the warmer end, thereby increasing the frictional pressure drop from steam inlet to air outlet gradually in the direction of the Warmer end of the condenser. In such an arrangement how ever, the tube sheet for the outlet water box is substantially smaller than that at the cooler end and the outer shell is also contracted at the warmer end. This results in a condenser having its weight disposed eccentrically and presents structural difliculties.

It is an object of this invention to enable the tubes to be arranged convergent toward Serial No. 309,171,

the warmer end of the condenser and permit the condenser shell, outlet water box and tube sheet to be of similar size at both ends; Inthe preferred embodiment of the invention the tubes are divided into groups in each I i of which the tubes converge. The sp'aee be tween the tube groups is occupied by filler pieces. An advantage of this constructionis that the size of the filler pieces may be changed in various parts of the condenser so as to provide steam lanes whereby the flow of steam may likewise be changed as desired. Another advantage of the invention is that the tubes of condensers at present in use may be rearranged to provide improved longi tudinal distribution of the steam.

Other objects and advantages will be in part obvious and part pointed out hereinafter.-

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, like characters of reference are employed to designatelike parts throughout; and,

Figure 1 is a; sectional view taken on a horizontal plane through thecondenser looking in the direction of steam flow;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken onthe line 22 of Figure I and,

Figure- 3' is a sectional view taken-substam tially along the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings, the eondenser consists of an outer shell 10 of any conventional type having steam inlet 11 and outlet 12 for the withdrawal of condensate and uncondensible" gases. The shell 10, is of any suitable length and is traversed by aplurality' of tubes 13, supplied: with Water from. the water head 14% which has an inlet 1-5, the said tubes discharging into ahead 16, havingan" outlet-17 at the opposite end of't'he eondensen A tubesheet 18 closes one end of the Water head brand a sheet 19 of the same size closes an end of the water head 1-6 and these two plates serve to' support the tubesin position within-the condenser and prevent leakage of the circulating water into the shell In this particular" instance, the tubes- 13' withirrthe condenser are arraired so that at (me aul-e een-terto' center lst mree d is greater than the: center t e setter" distance a at the other end to effect equal depth of penetration. The gradual crowding of the tubes toward the Warmer end of the condenser restricts the steam fiow more in the 5 warmer end and tends to produce a correspondingly greater pressure drop in the steam flow at that end than at the cooler end. Accordingly, since in this instance, the pressure drops through all parts of the condenser are equal, the steam velocity and quantity is greater at the cooler end where the condensing capacity is greatest. In order to distribute the tubes at this end as equally as possible over the tube sheet 19, a plurality of fillers 20, 21 and 22, may be arranged longitudinally of the tubes 13 so as to divide certain groups of tubes from each other. These fillers are wedge shaped, and preferably are hollow closed boxes, having their diverging walls parallel to the steam flow.

The walls of the fillers diverge in the direction of the water outlet box 16 so as to substantially fill the space between the tube groups. These fillers are secured to the plates 18 and 19 in any suitable manner as by means of bolts 23.

While these fillers may be arranged in any suitable manner, it is preferable to arrange them as shown in Figure 3 on account of the 80 extreme compactness obtained by this arrangement of parts. If desired a greater or lesser number of fillers may be used. However, irrespective of these details in manufacturing, the essential features of the inven- 85 tion are always preserved.

The steam pressure is uniform at the inlet 11. This pressure, which is a partial vacuum, is maintained by a suitable evacuating apparatus (not shown) which may withdraw condensate and uncondensible gases from the outlet 12.

In a condenser correctly built in accordance with the practice of this invention, the fillers 20, 21 and 22 fill substantially all of the space between the tube groups. An advantage of the use of fillers is that the space between the fillers and the tubes may be changed to provide lanes by which the steam path restriction may be varied to suit con- 5 ditions. If it is found that the restriction at the warmer end is too great, fillers narrower at the broad end may be inserted.

It is obvious that I have provided a condenser which is extremely simple in its construction. Convenience of arrangement of parts, compactness, lightness and comparative strength are further desiderata that have been borne in mind in the production and development of this invention.

00 I claim:

1. A condenser havin tubes with different temperatures along their length resulting in unequal capacities for condensing steam, there bein fillers between certain of said on tubes to divide the same into groups, the

tubes in each group converging towards each other in the direction of the region of high-- est circulating water temperature.

2. A condenser having a shell of substantially uniform cross section throughout its length and tubes in said shell with different temperatures along their length resulting in unequal capacities for condensing steam, there being fillers between certain of said tubes to divide the same into groups, the tubes in each group converging towards each other in the direction of the region of highest circulating water temperature.

3. A condenser having tubes with different temperatures along their length resulting in unequal capacities for condensing steam, there being wedge shaped fillers between certain of said tubes to divide the same into groups the tubes in each group converging towards each other in the direction of the region of highest circulating water temperature.

4. A condenser having a shell of substantially uniform cross section throughout its length and tubes in said shell with different temperatures along their length resulting in unequal capacities for condensing steam. there being wedge shaped fillers between certain of said tubes to divide the same into groups the tubes in each group converging towards each other in the direction of the region of highest circulating water temperature.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

PAUL A. BANCEL. 

